Negative Calorie Effect Foods?

SilverStrychnine
SilverStrychnine Posts: 413 Member
edited November 10 in Food and Nutrition
Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on "Negative Calorie Effect" foods.

Apparently some foods (like celery, carrots, apples, oranges, cucumber, strawberries) produce a negative calorie effect. These foods contain so few calories that your body burns more calories eating and processing them than what is actually contained in the food. So for example, a cup of carrot slice has about 52 calories. You burn 100 eating and digesting them. So you've essentially LOST 48 calories.

Now I'm not about to go and eat ONLY these foods, because that would be silly and very unhealthy. I'm not even sure how accurate these claims are, but the science seems to make sense.

Replies

  • shovav91
    shovav91 Posts: 2,335 Member
    There is no such thing as a "negative calorie" food. It is a myth. They are low in calories, however not low enough to have your body's digestion process cancel out the fact that they do indeed contain calories.
  • tracyjaynie
    tracyjaynie Posts: 28 Member
    I eat all of those items, so I am hoping you are right. No guilt .... is good.
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
    There is no such thing as a "negative calorie" food. It is a myth. They are low in calories, however not low enough to have your body's digestion process cancel out the fact that they do indeed contain calories.

    this
  • kiki41
    kiki41 Posts: 80 Member
    that is not true.
    Zero & Negative Calorie Foods Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images

    A diet for weight loss commonly reduces your caloric intake by 500 to 1,000 calories per day. Zero and negative-calorie foods help with your weight loss goals by adding very few calories to your daily diet. By substituting low-calorie foods for some of the high-calorie foods you currently consume, you reduce your daily calorie consumption.
    Zero-Calorie Foods

    Zero-calorie foods contain no calories. As listed in the U.S. Department of Agriculture publication Nutritive Value of Foods, only six food items out of 1,274 contain zero calories. These foods are: 5 sprigs of fresh dill weed; 8 fl oz of municipal tap water; one teaspoon of table salt; one teaspoon of the leavening agent baking soda; 12 fl oz of club soda; and 12 fl oz glass of a low-calorie carbonated beverage, without caffeine, except cola or pepper beverages.
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    Negative-Calorie Foods

    In theory, negative-calorie foods---also called catabolic foods--use up more calories in the digestive process than they contain, resulting in a caloric deficit. Very low-calorie foods like celery do require more energy to digest in comparison to the number of calories they provide, according to Mayo Clinic preventive medicine specialist Donald Hensrud, M.D.
    Which Foods Result in Negative Calories?

    Unfortunately, Dr. Donald Hensrud says that although a negative=calorie food is possible "there are no reputable scientific studies to prove that certain foods are negative-calorie." According to information provided by the McKinley Health Center at the University of Illinois, the human body burns about 10 calories as it breaks down 100 calories.
    Catabolic Diet

    A catabolic diet recommends individuals consume negative-calorie foods as the bulk of their dietary intake to promote weight loss. Replacing high-calorie foods with nutrient-rich low-calorie foods is a sound weight-loss strategy. However, when it comes to the validity of the catabolic diet, ACE-certified Personal Trainer Natalie Digate Muth, MD, MPH, RD says, "no study has ever demonstrated, regardless of the dietary make up of the food, that more calories are used to metabolize a food than the number of calories the food contains."
    Dangers

    Before embarking on any diet that proposes adding an abundance of zero-calorie--and supposedly negative-calorie--foods to your diet, check with your health care professional. Dr. Donald Hensrud warns that while a weight loss plan emphasizing these foods may produce weight loss at first, a diet consisting of a limited amount of foods can cause nutrient deficiencies that may result in health problems.

    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/285259-zero-negative-calorie-foods/#ixzz1m1RS384r
  • Captian_Dathon
    Captian_Dathon Posts: 73
    Some told me this was true, however it was more along the lines of it burning 0.000002 of a single calorie for every cup, so it's not an effective weight-loss or calorie deductor.

    However, something like celery is near just fiber, and if you ate ONLY it, you WOULD die of starvation, no matter how much of it you ate.
  • SilverStrychnine
    SilverStrychnine Posts: 413 Member
    Thanks everyone :) I have only just started today, so I'm a bit confused by all the myths flying around!

    *crosses THAT one off the list*
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